Zelda 2: Judgement of the Forsaken
by JohnOfOnett
Summary: A man finds his old NES in his attic and decides to play one of his favorite games: Zelda 2: Link's Adventure! Little does he know, this isn't the game he knew when he was young! Sorry for the sucky summary. I promise, this isn't some stupid creepypasta story! It isnt a haunted game, or a game that comes to life, or anything like that! It's just...what could've happened...


Hey guys! It's is John here! This Is my first try at a creepy pasta so don't judge!

Anyway, onto ze story!

Firstly, I want to get something straight: this is not a stupid game coming to life, a game breaking the fourth wall, a secret thing in a game, or anything like that. It is just a story about a rarely touched on aspect of the Zelda series that was put to light by a seemingly dedicated, but also seemingly mental, fan.

I had just graduated college. I was a good student and had earned a degree in visual arts and had recently gotten a job as an intern at a local gaming poster company.

One day, I was searching around my attic, searching for items for a rummage sale at a local church, when he spotted a dusty, beaten box labeled "NES."

"Oh," I said to myself as I walked over to the box, "I remember this."

I picked up the box and carefully ripped off the packing tape sealing it shut to find a familiar grey brick-like game system.

When I was about 10, I had received his father's old Nintendo Entertainment System for his birthday. Me and my younger brother had played it together constantly. Games like Contra, Super Mario Brothers 3, and Battletoads were some of the games we played together when we were younger.

Over time, though, our time to play it started dwindling. Things like Homework, After-School activities, and other things kept us from being able to play it. Heck, I hadn't played it in years!

I brushed those thoughts aside, though, as I brought the box down to my room. I poured out the contents of the box and examined the items.

First, of course, there was the system itself. It was covered in dust from years of neglect and the top for the cartridge slot was slightly bent, but there seemed to be no damages to the inside of the system.

I then looked over the rest of the items. They were an assortment of NES game cartridges, each with a sticker on them displaying what game they were. Unlike the system, however, the cartridges looked brand new. No dust or damage anywhere. I thought it strange, but didn't think much of it.

I plugged the system into my TV and thought about what game to choose. They were all great games from my childhood. Finally, I decided to pop in a classic: The Legend of Zelda 2: Link's Adventure.

I slid the game into the system, closed the lid, and turned the system on.

As the title screen came up, I noticed something odd. Unlike the usual screen, where we see a sword stuck into a cliff as the title rises up behind it, I saw the cliff, but no sword. I also didn't hear any music. The title rose up from behind the cliff, as normal, but nothing else was there.

Pushing it off as a glitch, due to the age of the system and the games, I pressed start and proceeded to the file select screen. I chose the first file, named it Link, and started my quest. As the screen faded in to what was supposed to be the sanctuary, I noticed something odd. The pedestal that was supposed to have Zelda sleeping on it…was empty. I also noticed that some of the pillars in the background were cracked and broken. It seemed like something had happened here, just before Link arrived.

As I exited the area and make it to the over world, I noticed that the sprite used for the sanctuary, along with the various dungeons, looked ruined, just like the area itself.

I now knew something was up. I was tempted to turn the game off and pick another one, but continued out of intrigue.

As I made my way to the first dungeon, I remembered that there was a health upgrade in a secret area on the over world, so I decided to go grab it before entering.

After dodging killer bubbles over several bottomless chasms and grabbing the health upgrade, I made my way back to the dungeon. I arrived and took the elevator down to into the dungeon.

As I reached ground, I noticed that those annoying fix-knight-things were not spawning from the edge of the screen like they normally did. 'Well that's convenient!' I thought to myself as I continued through the dungeon to get the item and fight the boss. As I went through, I noticed that the place was completely devoid of any enemies. Grabbing the item, I continued to thhe arena where I was supposed to find the first boss, Horsehead. As I reached the room, however, I noticed that the room was empty. Horsehead never came onscreen and the familiar boss music never played. It was just empty.

I decided to go into the final room where Link would usually put the crystal into the statue.

However, when I went into the room, I saw that the statue already had the crystal in it and it was also slightly cracked.

I was slightly puzzled by this situation. Was this some crazy rom hack that someone had somehow transferred into my cartridge?

Pushing the thought from my mind, I continued out of the dungeon and, seeing that my health and magic were low, decided to stop off at the nearest town to heal up.

As I made my way to the town of Ruto, I paused as I noticed the significant lack of NPCs in the town. The only people who seemed to be there were the healing lady, the magic lady, and the woman who lost her trophy. Healing up and exiting the town, I made my way through Death Mountain. After getting a game over, I decided to save the game and continue where I left off tomorrow.

Waking up the next morning I turned the system back on and continued my quest. I finally got through Death Mountain and to the town of Saria.

When I got there, however, I gasped. The town was in ruins. Buildings were destroyed, people lay dead on the ground, and monsters ran rampant.

Fleeing from the town due to my low health at the time, I decided to go visit Bagu in his house in the woods. Instead of giving me permission to cross the lake, however, he had this to say:

"Get away from me, Link! You betrayed us! You didn't help us in our time of need! Hundreds are dead because of you!"

The man then attempted to hit Link with a hammer. Panicking, I swung my sword at him..and he died. In his place say the hammer item. I picked it up and left the area, wondering who the heck could've made this crazy game…..

I now realize I should've turned the game off at this point.

Seeing my health and magic were still extremely low, I, against my better judgement, decided to return to the town of Saria. I decided that, since I was so far from a town and I had 2 lives to spare, to just go there and let the monsters kill me-ya know, since my life and magic would instantly refill.

When I returned to the town, however, there were no monsters to be seen. Most of the buildings were now pixilated ashes and rubble. The NPCs that usually decorated the lively town streets were gone, and the usual town music that I knew and loved was replaced by silence.

 _Oh my gosh!_ _What happened here?!_ I thought. Continuing to the next screen, the destruction continued. The entire town was in rubble.

Arriving at the screen where the guard lets you pass over the bridge, I entered said guard's place of residence. Inside, I saw that the guard was in a "hunched over" kind of stance and seemed to be using his sword for support. Also, on his arms and legs, I saw what appeared to be scrapes and bruises. Some of them were patched up, but some of them were still uncovered and seemed to be dripping pixilated blood.

As I walked up to him, a dialogue box appeared and the man spoke:

"Well, if it isn't Link, the so-called 'Hero'. I can't believe that I lived to see the day you failed. You see a town in danger and _what_ did you do? Run away like a coward. The entire town is destroyed. Everyone is dead. In fact, I'm the only one here left alive. Heh…heh…that doesn't matter anymore, though. I'll succumb to my injuries eventually. Anyway, run along, scat! Go disappoint someone else."

With that, the guard fell to the ground and died, a pool of pixilated blood forming under his corpse.

I paused the game and recollected my thoughts.

 _So this destruction is my fault? I'm the one who caused so many people to die?_ I thought, _Bagu was right!_

I resumed the game, adamant of what I must do. I must somehow end this destruction.

I made my way through the next six dungeons on my quest to defeat the evil. Like the first, they were devoid of all life, rendering them a breeze to get through. The rest of the towns were the same as Saria town: devoid of life and in rubble.

In a few days, I'd made it to the final dungeon: The Great Palace. As I entered the palace, the familiar music that I loved so much started to play, filling me with nostalgia. This was always my favorite track. As I went through the dungeon, I noticed that this one actually had enemies. I defeated the first one (one of those slime guys) and my experience level immediately skyrocketed. I was able to upgrade all of my stats to max from killing that one enemy!

Continuing through the dungeon, I beat the enemies, collected the item, and had finally made it to the final boss, when I noticed that the final boss didn't appear. Instead, Ganon attacked!

He looked similar to his sprite from the first game, but much bigger.

He kept attacking Link by jumping and shooting him with small red spheres of magic. He also occasionally tried to stab Link with a pitch-fork, which looked similar to the one he used in A Link to the Past.

I fought against Ganon and, eventually, he kneeled down and started panting. A text box came up and Ganon then spoke:

"You. You're trying to make up for your past mistakes. Your mistakes that led to this destruction; to my uprising," Ganon then stood up, "However…you cannot beat me. I'm more powerful then I've ever been before. I shall destroy y-"

All of the sudden, Zelda appeared, looking reminiscent to her Link to the Past sprite.

She seemed to have a sword and/or knife in her hand. It looked similar to Link's, but was a shade of white with a dark blue hilt. Zelda walked towards Ganon and Link and a text box appeared. She spoke but one word: "You…."

She continued towards the two, moving faster, until she stopped right in front of them.

She again spoke the one word again: "You…,"

I looked at the scene, confused. Who was she talking to. Ganon or Link?

I watched as she held up the blade and, for the final time, spoke: "This madness ends….NOW!"

She then swung the sword at Link, killing him instantly. The normal dying animation plays and the screen fades to black.

I just sat there, gaping. So this is how it ends? With Link dying? Who will stop Ganon? Who will save Zelda? It was then the title came onscreen:

The Legend of Zelda: Judgement of the Forsaken

Then it all came to me. "Judgement of the Forsaken"

The towns-people, Bagu, the guard, Zelda, they'd all been abandoned by Link. Link had failed to save Zelda and went into hiding, letting Ganon take over. It was an alternate aftermath to the first game!

I sat back and let these thoughts sink into my brain. Whoever made this hack was both amazing and scary. I then remembered something I'd asked myself before: Who made it and how did it get on my cartridge?

Just then, my phone rang. It was my younger brother, James. He called and said that he "was looking for a Zelda 2 cartridge" and asked if I had it. I informed him about the strange hack I'd played. He gasped and asked where is got it. I explained to him how I'd found in in our old box of NES games.

James then sighed and spoke: "Sean (yes, that's my name), I made that for you. I was going to give it to you on our birthday, since I knew you liked it so much."

"Oh...," I replied, "um…sorry."

"Eh, it's alright!"

"You sure?"

"Yeah! Just…did ya like it?"

"….yeah…..you could say that."

END

Well that was my story. Sorry if it wasn't _that_ scary. I'm not good at horror that much.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story!


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